“Cross Justice” by James Patterson - Family Shackles

Once a hero becomes established in literature there often comes to question as to who he was before we were introduced to him. What life events could mold remarkable people, making them into the protagonists we yearn to follow and always learn more about.

Most of the time we have to be content using our imaginations to fill in all the blanks, but there are times when we do get to ride the time machine and peer into the past we could only make up, as is the case with Cross Justice by James Patterson.

In this addition to the series, Alex Cross finds himself returning to his hometown that he had forsaken many years ago, all but left behind in his dreamy pages of his past. With his cousin accused of a brutal murder and none but the Cross family certain of his innocence, Alex feels he has no choice but to finally face the darkness that has been chasing him.

Upon returning, he finds that the town itself has taken a stark nosedive, becoming a hotbed of drug trafficking and violent crimes. In a plot twist that seems to have become more the rule than an exception in Alex Cross' life, the investigation eventually leads him to some bigger, badder fish with darker, deadlier plans than just framing his cousin.

As you can expect, an Alex Cross novel by James Patterson isn't exactly your number one source for life-changing thoughts and philosophical debates.

What it does deliver in spades though is action and thrills, and it starts at the very beginning with a rather intense prologue with an eye-widening cliffhanger that sets up the rest of the story.

It is built into five parts, following the thread chronologically with short, intense and action-packed chapters that culminate in the unravelling of an insidious conspiracy, an atomic explosion (metaphorically-speaking, of course).

What's more interesting in this Alex Cross novel compared to the previous ones is that, as mentioned above, we get a real interesting glimpse into what his past was like.

We learn about his life as a child, about his poor mother struggling with every demon in existence, a deeply flawed person who nevertheless did everything she could to provide for her family.

The link between Cross' childhood events and his motivations is never clearly described, though Patterson does leave some room for interesting theories and that's more than enough for the reader.

Even though a fair amount of time is dedicated to Cross' past and his hometown, the bulk of the spotlight is, of course, placed on the investigation surrounding his cousin and the string of murders Cross is led to in the sugarcane fields of Florida

In traditional Patterson style there are plenty of twists and turns that come for you at breakneck speed, always keeping you entertained and pretty much making you devour the whole thing.

In conclusion, Cross Justice is a fantastic thriller with a strong plot packed with action, even going the extra mile with some much-welcome character development into a character we've grown to appreciate; any fan of Patterson's will rejoice.

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James B. Patterson Personal site James Patterson is an American writer who has dedicated a large part of his literary career to writing murder-related thrillers, inventing in the process two memorable character-based series in Alex Cross and Michael Bennett. His most prominent works include Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider.